The federal Auditor-General has rejected claims ministerial advisers contributed to poor results in government programs, while former top public servants said the cadre of mostly young and highly political advisers were necessary for government to function effectively.

As the Coalition claimed the government was using the public service to do political work for Labor ministers, the new shadow parliamentary secretary for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott,
Arthur Sinodinos
, warned cutting the number of advisers would make government less efficient.

On Thursday, Business Council of Australia chief executive
Jennifer Westacott
called for the number of ministerial staff to be halved. She claimed the authority of the public service was being undermined by unaccountable “political gatekeepers" and major reforms were “unravelling before our eyes".

The Australian National Audit Office said none of its audits had identified specific problems with ministerial staff. In recent years, the ANAO has investigated the home insulation and school hall programs and regional grants schemes.

“The performance audits the ANAO undertakes primarily focus on whether or not appropriate processes have been followed and decisions have been properly documented," a spokesman said.

“In conducting our performance audits, the ANAO recognises that ministerial staffers generally act as a conduit between the departments and the minister. However, our audits have not identified any specific issues with ministerial staff in this process."

Asked on Friday if a Coalition government would cut ministerial staff numbers, Mr Abbott said all areas of government would be assessed. Senator Sinodinos, who was a senior Treasury official, said in the modern political age it was unrealistic to think there should be a return to the small number of ministerial staff.

“Ministers have enormous workloads and have all sorts of interest groups they have to deal with," he said.

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“There is a range of matters that public servants should not be asked to undertake. If you cut the numbers back as has happened over the years, governments often find that they are scrambling and people can’t get into see them and start complaining."

He said he expected public servants felt on the outer because Labor had a very short-term focus as it was a minority government.

“In this environment the first imperative is to survive . . . the issue for this government is that too often it has looked like it is lurching from one crisis to another."

Shadow treasurer
Joe Hockey
put public servants on notice they should stand up for their independence and reject doing political work. Mr Hockey filed a formal complaint with the Australian Public Service Commission which alleges Treasurer
Wayne Swan
forced bureaucrats to create documents used by the government for political purposes.

“This is a test for the government, but it is also a test for the public service. Do not allow yourselves to become the tools of the Labor Party," Mr Hockey said.

A spokesman for Mr Swan denied Mr Hockey’s assertions.

“Compilation of purely factual material has always been, and will always remain, an entirely appropriate and necessary role of government departments," he said.

Lynne Ashpole, a former Labor ministerial adviser and public servant, now researching the Rudd government, said advisers and public servants had a role in policymaking.

“Ministerial staffers could do with more training, and their relationship with the public service is not always a happy one, but when they work well together and recognise the different strengths and expertise each brings to the table, then policymaking is strengthened not diminished," she said. “Staffers can work with interest groups like the BCA and other policy players, in a way apolitical public servants cannot."

Former senior public servant
Ken Baxter
agreed with Ms Westacott and said ministerial staff could be more than halved, particularly for junior ministers.

“The increasing trend on both sides of politics seems to be to employ considerably younger people," he said. “They are intellectual rabbits with big ears, fluffy tails, the capacity to hop all over the place and when things go wrong the capacity to disappear down the burrow."

Australian Catholic University adjunct professor John Nethercote had concerns about the number of advisers but Ms Westacott’s speech was “a baby boomer comment about Gen Y and the problem is first-generation ministerial staffers are now consultants and looking for work".

“The public service could do a much better job with business but business also doesn’t put much effort into understanding government."